Monthly Archives: September 2015

I guess Russia — and now China — are fed-up with the roles America, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council have been playing to overthrow the Syrian government through supporting terrorists disguised as rebels. In addition to Russia’s military … Continue reading →

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not fooled — not even for a minute. And if some of you didn’t shut down your MLK studies immediately after reading his “I Have a Dream” speech, you wouldn’t be so surprised that … Continue reading →

Thinking about John Coltrane’s birthday today reminds me of what Carlos Santana had to say about the late creator: “When you listen to the sound resonant vibration, that flows freely from the center of his luminous spirit, you remember at a molecular level, … Continue reading →

The Bay Ridge couple I recently saw in the Whitehall Street subway station☆ may provide a clue about the fate of the US economy. But I should first describe Bay Ridge, so that you can see what I mean. A … Continue reading →

Six hundred dollars. That’s the figure I came up with when I tried to distill the meaning of General Motors’ nine hundred million dollar settlement with the US government to avoid being charged with knowingly selling cars with defective ignition … Continue reading →

Remember when I discussed how Russia’s latest military buildup in Syria will prove to be too brilliant for America’s central military planners who claim to be focused on purging Islamic State from the region, but seem to be hell-bent on … Continue reading →

If it’s even possible for the statuses of pop artistsTaylor Swift, Beyoncé Knowles or J.Cole to be upgraded beyond their current recognition as some of the brightest lights in the history of entertainment, I could imagine that sort of elevation … Continue reading →

For some reason, I’m not surprised that Ta-Nehisi Coates made the National Book Awards long list of nominations for Nonfiction. No offense, Dr. West. Temporarily setting aside arguments about whether or not Coates’ book Between the World and Me reflects … Continue reading →

Losing music great BB King earlier this year is still a load on my mind, but I try to remain thankful for what he gave the earth—an inimitable style and a strong wave of influennce. I don’t know of any … Continue reading →

After announcing the 2015 National Book Awards long list for Young People’s Literature yesterday, the National Book Foundation did the same for the Poetry category this morning. Two previous winners of the Awards made this year’s list: Marilyn Hacker and Terrance Hayes from … Continue reading →